Globalization, globalism and decommodification

By Jeff Oliver

What is the connection between globalization, globalism and decommodification? In 2006, Zaman captured the essentials of these connections quite well. The book is worth reading for anyone that is interested in the intersection between social rights and globalism, social rights and immigration or globalism and immigration. I am interested in all such intersections. For several months I have been seeing the treatment of migrants as a product of commodification and neoliberalism. 

Commodification as an emphasis on markets/market value

Zaman ties these things all together quite nicely. It is hard to do justice to the entire book in a few sentences, but if I were to make that attempt, I would first borrow a sentence from Zaman: "globalism can be described as neo-liberal globalism" (Zaman 2006, 4 see also Otero & Jugenitz 2006). In other words, globalism is about increasingly enlarging the place of markets and market value in a society which has the (unintended?) side-effect of decreasing the intrinsic or non-market value of things in society. There is a vast discussion debating and developing this idea (Room 2000, Holden 2003, Bond 2004, 2005, Scruggs & Allan 2006, Vail 2010).

While globalism and commodification certainly are not synonymous (I fear that some are beginning to make this mistake...), globalism, especially as defined by those like Zaman, tends to bring commodification with it wherever it goes. With neoliberalism as the prime political-economic agenda of globalism, the market (and as an extension market-value) come to occupy a larger place in globalized societies. If we define commodification as an increase in the centrality of markets and market value in society (Holden 2003, Bond 2004, 2005, Vail 2010) then commodification would seem to naturally follow globalism almost like its shadow. This is because of the difficulty in increasing the emphasis on markets without becoming commodified (at least by the definition that commodification is an increasing emphasis on the market and market value!). 

Other definitions of commodification

There are other definitions of commodification, however. Although these will not be discussed in depth at this time (see the post in this blog on "Straightening out definitions of commodification and decommodification), I would argue that all of these definitions stem out of the broader idea (and more inclusive definition of the term "commodification"): any process that increases the commodity component of an object (be it a society, a person, an exchange or a material or immaterial object). Consequently, Zaman's (2006) assertion seems to be supported--globalism brings with it an increased focus on things that have worth in a market (commodities). We must therefore only make the tiny leap from that idea to the idea that the esteem of non-commodities is simultaneously reduced in society (it is theoretically possible for the value of both to increase, although one might question how often that actually occurs in practice...). 

Intersections of commodification and migration

If commodification and globalism are so tightly joined, then it becomes easy to see how these might intersect with migration. Migrants generally feel low status in society and generally struggle to find a place and a space in their new countries (Gold 2010). In the wake of globalism, migrants are often expected (whether it is done consciously or unconsciously) to justify their presence in a new country based on their market value. In this way, migrants are commodified. Some countries (without doing extensive research New Zealand comes to mind...) have a system down that "quantifies" the market worth of a potential migrant down to every last detail and this is the system used to determine admission to the country. Likewise, we hear stories even in the US of the "high worth" migrants that get moved to the front of the line because of "who they are" meaning how wealthy they are or how valuable their services will be (STEM educated PhDs for example...). 

Finally, there is a great paradox in this commodification of migrants as migrants often seem to fall on a "double edged sword of commodification"--be lazy and unproductive if they do not succeed economically and a threat to native born jobs if they do succeed economically (see Gold 2010). 

Summary observations

In the wake of globalism, migrants are asked to navigate their new country vis-à-vis their market value. However, this often exacerbates their low status as they are seen either as a threat if they succeed economically or as lazy and a drain on society if they do not succeed economically. Additionally, other definitions of commodification (described in the blog post, "Straightening out definitions of commodification and decommodification") imply that migrants become objectified, dehumanized or alienated from their intrinsic worth as a person. Zaman (2006) has partially undertaken a study of what it means for migrants to become decommodified in a world of neoliberal globalism. This book is a great read for those interested in the intersections of migration, globalism and commodification. Additionally, there is room to expand, think through and further push on Zaman's ideas. 

Specifically, definitions of commodification and decommodification are still largely under-developed and often applied almost exclusively to the idea of state intervention and welfare. While decommodification can be linked to the state's actions in reducing the emphasis on the market, there are many applications to discuss decommodification and migrants outside of that context. For example, the way migrants are admitted to a country can either commodify or decommodify them, the way they are treated by the native born segment, or the way they are portrayed in the media can all "objectify" migrants or emphasize the value they have based on their intrinsic human worth. 

Works cited

Bond, P. (2004). Water commodification and decommodification narratives: Pricing and policy debates from Johannesburg to Kyoto to Cancun and back.Capitalism Nature Socialism, 15(1), 7-25.

Bond, P. (2005). Globalisation/commodification or deglobalisation/decommodification in urban South Africa. Policy Studies, 26(3-4), 337-358.

Gold, S. J. (2010). The store in the hood: A century of ethnic business and conflict. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Holden, C. (2003). Decommodification and the workfare state. Political Studies Review, 1(3), 303-316.

Otero, G. and H. Jugenitz (2006). "Forging New Democracies: Indigenous Struggles for Autonomy" in Laxer, G. and D. Soron (eds.) Not for Sale: Decommodifying Public Life, University of Toronto Press, Higher Education Division.
Room, G. (2000). Commodification and decommodification: a developmental critique. Policy & Politics, 28(3), 331-351.

Vail, J. (2010). Decommodification and egalitarian political economy. Politics & Society, 38(3), 310-346.

Zaman, H. (2006). Breaking the iron wall: Decommodification and immigrant women's labor in Canada. Lexington Books.